MARSHALL - Worthington was still easily within striking distance of top-seeded Hutchinson going into the sixth inning Wednesday when the two squads opened Zone 15-Division 1 sub-state play in Marshall.
In the home half of the inning, Post 96 smelled blood in the water after a couple free passes. They started hitting and eventually hung a 6-spot to go up 10-0. Eighth-seeded Worthington put a couple runners on in the top of the seventh but couldn’t scratch one across to prolong the game.
“In the first five innings we went toe-to-toe with them,” Post 5 coach Brad Shaffer said. “We were only down 4-0 and we were feeling pretty good about ourselves. Then they got a couple walks and some timely hits and suddenly we’re down by 10.”
It wasn’t that Worthington didn’t have opportunities. It left eight runners on base and on multiple occasions had someone get within 90 feet of putting it on the board.
“We got guys on base and we moved well around the bases,” Shaffer said. “We just couldn’t get the big hit or catch a big break when we needed it.”
The first-year head coach said Hutchinson’s run total was a product of its ability at the plate and not a sign of struggles for Post 5. Worthington didn’t commit an error in the game and Post 96 cracked 13 hits.
Overall, he was pleased with how his team performed and said it simply ran into a strong ballclub.
“They are a very good offensive team,” Shaffer said. “They didn’t do anything tricky or steal a lot of bases or anything like that, but they just got up there and hit the ball. Sometimes when you’re up against a team that hit like they did you can play great defense and they still manage to find the holes.”
Nate Russell took the loss for Post 5, striking out one in five-plus innings of work.
Trevor Wietzema had a nice night at the plate, going 2-for-3 with a double. King Blanchette reached in all three of his plate appearances, going 1-for-1 with a double. Torey Rogers was 1-for-2 and reached third base twice.
Worthington will try to keep its season alive at 1 p.m. today when it takes on Willmar at Irish Yard in Milroy. Willmar lost its opening round game to Marshall Wednesday evening. The winner of that game will play again at 7 p.m. in Marshall.
“We’re down to win or go home,” Shaffer said. “I like the way the guys played today. We just had one tough inning but there wasn’t much we could do about it. It wasn’t like we kicked the ball around or anything. They just hit well.”
R H E
Worthington 000 000 0 - 0 5 0
Hutchinson 101 116 x - 10 13 0
